Speaker Cable Lengths?

[Lapo]

Greetings All, I'm about to get some speaker cables made and wonder what lengths to get. For sound quality reasons I want them short as possible. I've never gigged with my own PA so I'm not sure what the minimal cable lengths might be. Thanks A lot

[Woodstock School Of Music]

I use 25' speaker cables because I'd rather have too much than too little and it gives me length to rout them neatly.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by The dman

I use 25' speaker cables because I'd rather have too much than too little and it gives me length to rout them neatly.

Sorry, I wrote my response to the OP and accidentally selected your message in responding.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Lapo

Greetings All, I'm about to get some speaker cables made and wonder what lengths to get. For sound quality reasons I want them short as possible. I've never gigged with my own PA so I'm not sure what the minimal cable lengths might be. Thanks A lot

The larger the diameter of the wires in a speaker cable, the lower the speaker-cable gauge number, and the longer the speaker cable run can be. Typical included speaker cables with an all-in-one system are 18-gauge. The lower the gauge number, the bigger the wires within the cable, and the more cumbersome the cables can be to work with because of cable stiffness.

The following information comes from JBL. It shows some suggested wire gauges for different distances and different impedances. http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/t...e_gauge_right/
• 10 feet, 4, 8 & 16 Ohm load = 20 AWG
• 25 feet, 4 Ohm load = 15 - 20 AWG
• 25 feet, 8 & 16 Ohm load = 20 AWG
• 50 feet, 4 Ohm load = 10 - 15 AWG
• 50 feet, 8 Ohm load = 15 AWG
• 50 feet, 16 Ohm load = 15 - 20 AWG
• 100 feet, 4 Ohm load = 10 AWG
• 100 feet, 8 Ohm load = 10 - 15 AWG
• 100 feet, 16 Ohm load = 15 - 18 AWG
• 150 feet, 4 Ohm load = 8 AWG
• 150 feet, 8 Ohm load = 12 AWG
• 150 feet, 16 Ohm load = 15 AWG
• 200 feet, 4 Ohm load = 5 - 8 AWG
• 200 feet, 8 Ohm load = 10 AWG
• 200 feet, 16 Ohm load = 10 - 15 AWG

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Lapo

Greetings All, I'm about to get some speaker cables made and wonder what lengths to get. For sound quality reasons I want them short as possible. I've never gigged with my own PA so I'm not sure what the minimal cable lengths might be. Thanks A lot

Are you running from a power amp/powered mixer to passive PA speakers, or running line level signals from a mixer to active/powered speakers?

[Lapo]

Thanks for the replys! The cables will be between poweramp and my soon to be recieved Daedalus W803s. They're being completely upgraded, all drivers, crossover, and wiring. I'll be using them for Studio and Hifi as well as Live Sound. The cable will be the Mogami cables that Lou makes and I'm trying to find the sweet spot between sound quality, portability, and flexibility. Can't wait to hear them!!!

[sdelsolray]

I use a a pair of Acoustic Research MS321 25 foot 10 gauge speaker cables between my power amp and Daedalus W803 pair. They use hundreds of silver plated copper strands that make up the 10-gauge cable diameter. That's supposed to make them work better. I have my doubts.

[LSemmens]

If you are interested in Speaker cables have a read here: The truth about cables and More truth about cables

[KevWind]

As long as you are using good quality copper properly shielded cabe you will will get good sound
What I like that is not the cheapest but still very reasonable price wise I use Mogami Quad 4 conductor 4.0 mm ( about 11 gage ) in 20 ft. length